On Apr 7, 2010, at 5:54 PM, ki4umx wrote: > Hi Nick, > > I see several have answered the technical side of your question, so I'll > limit myself to why I WOULD NOT use source routing except in emergencies. > > With source routing, you have no idea what is going on at the target > repeater, and you stand the chance of BLASTING into a QSO or net that is > going on. I've heard this more than once! If the target repeater is "linked" > at the time, you would BLAST into ALL linked repeaters! Multicast is just as > bad - on more than one occasion I have heard 1/2 of a QSO coming over > Reflector 1C because one of the Hams was using Multicast (probably forgot to > turn it off) and the other was not. The worst part - they probably weren't > even talking on the repeater that was linked to 1C, but a repeater that was > part of the Multicast Programming WAS linked to 1C. > > 73 > Hank-KI4UMX
This is more a sign of really poor integration of the regular features vs. the add-on features, than anything. If the two were "aware" of each other in any way, a message could be sent back to the user who is "barging" in saying the remote system is linked somewhere. Easy to fix, if Icom were really interested. They're not. And D-PLUS can't do it all "alone" so to speak. It would require a new release of Gateway software that had been built with linking in mind. As it stands today, two things must happen... 1. Users MUST be aware of what they're putting in the fields, and transmitting. While no one's perfect, putting a standard "CQCQCQ" route for your local GW into the memory channel and making sure you bump OFF of it and then back on, before transmitting locally (or through a D-PLUS link) is the best practice. All the current Icom rigs reset the four callsign fields anytime you tune to a new memory channel. 2. ANNOUNCE what you're doing. There's absolutely no reason to go so far as to AVOID callsign routing. Instead just SAY OUT LOUD that you're doing it. No ham in their right minds is going to be upset with you for "barging in" if you SAY that you're callsign routing and they know what that means and realize you can't hear what's going on at the far end. Callsign routing obviously is a fully-workable system all by itself (without D-PLUS linking) -- Japan's been using it, and ONLY it, for the entire time D-STAR has been deployed there. Over here, D-PLUS is virtually a requirement so a private company can sell and offer DV-Dongle... gateway operators don't really get a choice as to whether or not they want that particular add-on. And I'm not saying it isn't useful... it is... but I'd almost wish people HAD to learn the Icom way FIRST so they FULLY understand how the system was DESIGNED to work, prior to getting the keys to drive the D-PLUS links... THE ONLY REASON you find callsign routing "a problem" is because people refuse to learn it. Anyone that understands it, can deal with it... including hitting their One-Touch button to route back to the "interloper" and tell them what's happening. Trying to treat D-STAR like it wasn't source-routed and adding software to make it act like an analog system, is what got us to this so-called "problem" in the first place, not the other way around. -- Nate Duehr, WY0X n...@natetech.com
